Magnolia PD
by ThisMudbloodChasesFairyTails
Summary: The Police Department is a mess, and the citizens of Magnolia are in grave danger. New Police Officers Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fulbuster are complete opposites, fire and ice, but after stumbling into a mob war, will they work together? Along with the rest of the Police force and their civilian friends, they might just be able to protect the city they love. M for Smut/Themes/Lang.
1. Chapter 1: Sworn In

**Magnolia PD**

 ****This is a work of fiction. I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story, as they all belong to Hiro Mashima. The contents of the story may be old hat/cliche. Please enjoy anyway!**

 **Chapter 1: Sworn In**

* * *

"And I want to first introduce the new recruits about to be officers and the police officers about to be promoted. Please join us, and give them a round of applause," Chief of Police, Makarov Dreyar, announced to the room. Applause erupted as the cadets took the stage. "Welcome to everyone in attendance, family, friends and other law enforcement officials. They truly deserve your applause. Thank you all for being here to celebrate this special day…"

Natsu started to glaze over and started thinking about what he was going to eat for dinner that night. He had a bunch of left overs in the fridge, but they probably had all gone bad by now. He didn't realize that everyone around him had sat down, and he was the only one still standing "at attention". He felt a tug on his pants, and heard Gray hiss, "sit down Flame Brain!" Natsu flushed in embarrassment while he sat down and growled at Gray as he snickered. They both sat in silence as Makarov made his speech.

"I would like to ask all the officers to stand, and if I could ask all the law enforcement officials to stand with them, raise you right hand, JUST police officers please," Makarov said while chuckling as a couple children stood on chairs to try to take the oath, "if you would repeat after me, 'I' state your name here, 'hereby upon my oath, solemnly swear that I will…'"

"To the best of my ability," Gray copied monotonously, facing the front and looking stoic, unlike his best friend Natsu, who looked energized and excited.

"Uphold, protect and defend the constitutions of the City of Magnolia and the Country of Fiore!" Natsu said, barely able to contain himself from bouncing up and down. Today was the day he had been looking forward to for 10 years. He was so happy that he had made it through the program. He had gotten in trouble so many times, he honestly thought that he would have been kicked out half way through.

Meanwhile, Gray was having similar thoughts, about Natsu not being kicked out that is. Gray was an exemplary student, other than his fights with Natsu. He had gotten awards for his performance in lawful action and the protection of citizens. However, he didn't really care about that. He didn't really care about anything. The only reason Gray had even started Police Academy was because Flame Brain over there goaded him into it, "I further swear that I will, to the best of my ability, enforce the ordinances, laws, rules and regulations as enacted by the City of Magnolia and the Country of Fiore," Gray said aloud while thinking about how he actually KNEW the laws and regulations unlike Pinky next to him.

"I will at all times, maintain and conduct myself in a manner befitting a police officer of the City of Magnolia upon which I am about to enter!" Makarov finished, and waited for the new recruits to repeat what he said, "And congratulations! You are all now police officers of the City of Magnolia! Let's give them all a round of applause!"

Following the ceremony, Gray started out the door only to be stopped by Natsu, "Hey Ice Princess, wanna go get some dinner to celebrate?" Natsu called, bounding towards him.

"You don't have any food at home again, huh?" Gray guessed, looking at his friend and shaking his head.

"No! That's not it!" Natsu said, embarrassed that Gray knew, "I just thought that we could celebrate not being in school anymore and that we have jobs. I mean no biggy. If you'd rather be alone again, I'll just go myself." Natsu started to walk up the street.

"Yo, Flame Brain!"

"What?" Natsu said, turning around expectantly.

"You're going the wrong way," Gray stated, before turning to walk to his car, "Get in, we'll go get Korean BBQ." Natsu's smile was huge, and he practically teleported to Gray's side. "You're treating by the way," Gray said as he unlocked the car and got in on the driver's side. Natsu scoffed, but then shrugged his shoulders and silently agreed.

"So, what do you want to get tonight?" Natsu asked.

"Do you always have to talk so much?" Gray said before sighing. Natsu started pouting.

"I just wanted to keep the car ride from being boring. Sheesh!" he glared out the window and crossed his arms over his chest. For the first time that day, Gray cracked a tiny smile. His best friend was an idiot.

"Bulgogi."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" Natsu growled out, his eyes and head looking like it expanded three times their natural size.

"I said I want Bulgogi, Flame Brain. You asked what I wanted to get. God you're an idiot." Gray said while shaking his head.

"Oh! Oh… My bad. Bulgogi sounds good, but I really want short ribs…" Natsu prattled on about all the food he could get and what he wanted to eat.

"Dude, Natsu, do you ever shut up!?" Gray nearly shouted, reaching his limit for the night. Natsu realized this and sat back in his seat, content to just listen to music and relax while Gray drove.

Natsu thought about all the activities of the day. He was finally a Police Officer. He was going to do as much good as he could for this city. He loved Magnolia and everyone in it. They all accepted him after he lost his father. He was prepared to lay down his life for the people of this city. And the best part was, he had his best friend Gray along with him. Gray liked to put on a shell, but Natsu knew him better than that. Gray might pretend he didn't want to be an officer, but Natsu knew that Gray had his own reasons for becoming and officer. "Hey Gray?"

"What?" Gray sighed, realizing he couldn't shut him up.

"You drive like a grandmother."

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

 **A.N.: This is actually my first story published anywhere. I can admit that my themes may be cliche and that my writing style needs a lot of work. I would appreciate any reviews that come my way. Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2: Partnering Up

**Chapter 2: Partnering Up**

* * *

Natsu yawned loudly, stretching and accidentally punching Gray in the face, "HEY! WATCH IT, IDIOT!" Natsu flinched for a quick second before jumping to his feet.

"It's not like I meant to punch you, you big baby! Why were you so close to me, anyway!?" Gray slowly got up, looking at the ground and glowering.

"Do you really want to start a fight RIGHT NOW as we're waiting to meet our boss and the entire police department!?" He growled out. Natsu put his fists up and got closer to Gray.

"I'm always ready to rumble!"

"Excuse me gentleman. I hate to interrupt. But would you like to meet the adults now?" They both turned to find a fiery redhead, body language cold as ice, but eyes full of a fire that made even Natsu's blood run cold.

"Yes, ma'am." They squealed before standing at attention.

She sighed before continuing, "Well, I am Captain Erza Scarlet. These are your brothers in arms. This is Elfman Strauss, Bisca and Alzack Connell, Juvia Locksler and Lyon Vastia. They are all Officers." Each nodded or waved respectfully as they were called. "This way." She said as she made her way down the hall, "These are the Detective, that is Evergreen, Bixlow, Macao and Wakaba. There's one more, Gildarts, but he's out on an investigation right now. These two are the other captains, Freed Justine and Laxus Dreyar. The Deputy Chief doesn't come in often, he handles almost all of our public relations. And finally, this is our Chief of Police, Makarov Dreyar. I'll leave you here. It was nice meeting you, boys," she finished, emphasizing the last word.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Natsu started.

"SHUT UP, FLAME BRAIN! She's our superior! Do you want to get fired on our first day!?" Makarov chuckled and both boys slowly turned to face him, faces nearly blue from embarrassment.

"Sit, relax." Makarov said, "I saw you two at the ceremony. I'm sorry, I didn't get to say hello!"

"I apologize Chief Dreyar, we got a little carried away this morning. It won't happen again." Gray said, head bowed. Natsu looked back and forth between the two frantically before bowing his head so hard it knocked into the desk. Makarov laughed loudly at this and Gray even chuckled lowly.

"Good to see you have a sense of humor boy. And Natsu, was it? Be more careful, my boy. Now both of you can call me Chief Makarov. I'm not one for complete tradition. It makes me feel awful old, anyways. In any case, I want to introduce you to your trainers for the next four days. We'll get you through orientation and then turn you loose on the city, once we know we can trust you." A knock resounded on the door, "Ah, come in." A busty young woman with light blue hair and a burly man with spiky white hair and a scar on his face walked in. "This is Juvia and Elfman. They will orientate you guys for the next few days. Now amscray!"

The foursome hot-tailed it out of the office and into the main station. Juvia and Elfman walked them through the entire building starting from the lobby, to the main office, interrogation rooms and cells. They showed them where the supplies were, the garage and the storage for confiscated items. "That's basically it. Let Juvia know if you have any questions," Juvia said at the end of their tour. They still weren't used to her third person type of speech, but even Natsu had enough couth to not ask about it.

"If I know anything about being a man, and trust me I do, you both must be wondering where the best place to go for lunch is!" Elfman butted in. "We'll take you to the best diner in all of Fiore at lunch."

"Yes, Juvia will take you to the front to get your ID cards, badges and uniforms. You won't get guns until after the orientation." She walked up to Lyon, and seemingly didn't notice his adoring eyes.

"Hey beautiful, what can I do for you?" Lyon asked smoothly, before noticing the two guys behind her. He instantly turned to ice once he saw Gray, "What are you doing here, Fullbuster?" Gray growled a little and explained that he was a new recruit and that Lyon just needed to piss off. Lyon looked back at Juvia, "so, are you busy for lunch? There's this new curry place down the street…"

"Juvia is going with Gray, Natsu and Elfman to Fairy Tail, do you want to come?"

"No! I mean, no. I'll just catch up with you later. Bisca can help you with the paperwork and stuff. See you around." Lyon said as he stalked off somewhere in the building. The trio walked over to over to Bisca and Alzack, who were bickering about something, but instantly quieted as they were approached. Once they got all the paperwork sorted and Gray and Natsu received their own company issued items, the small group left for the garage.

The three left to get Elfman, and then they all headed out to Fairy Tail. Elfman wouldn't stop going on and on about how the pot roast there was fit for a real man, and Juvia sat quietly looking moody. The foursome parked in front of a brightly colored diner. The boys got out of the back, a little cramped since they had to ride in the back of a patrol car. They stretched and then followed the pair into the restaurant.

"Hi! Welcome to Fairy Tail! Sit anywhere you like, and I'll follow you with menus!" A cute, blonde called from the bar.

"Yeah, we'll be right with you! Oh! Elfman!" a little white haired girl came charging at the group before hugging her brother.

"Natsu and Gray this is my little sister Lisanna, Lis, these two are new recruits."

"Oh, nice to meet you!" Lisanna reached out to shake hands, and noticed Natsu staring over at the bar. "Oh, that's Lucy. Hey, Luce! Come meet my brother's new coworkers!"


	3. Chapter 3: New Introductions

**Chapter 3: New Introductions**

* * *

Lisanna chatted happily with the group and waited with them while Lucy ran to get them menus. "So I guess you guys don't have uniforms, huh?" Natsu asked.

"Nope! Loke tried to get us to wear princess dresses once, but Kinana and I threw a fit. Lucy didn't mind so much though. Truth be told, I think she was kind of excited for it!" Lisanna said excitedly.

"Hey! I was so not interested in wearing that big puffy dress! I just thought it would be fun to dress up for a little bit." Lucy said shamed faced and bright red. She handed them the menus and Natsu dived straight in. "In any case, it really wasn't like that. Loke thought we should go with the theme, but I think he really just wanted to look like a prince to hit on the chicks that come in." Lisanna and Lucy giggled together, "In any case, we'll leave you to look at the menus, I suggest the country fried steak and eggs or maybe the spaghetti. Oh! Can we get you something to drink?"

"Water for Juvia," Juvia drawled out, seemingly uninterested in the girls' friendliness.

"Black coffee, like a real man!" Elfman shouted.

"Water for me too please, extra ice." Gray ordered politely.

"Um…Natsu was it?" Lucy questioned as she waved a hand in front of his face, he looked straight up, eyes wide.

"I have never seen so much good food on one menu before! Can I have one of everything?" He asked excitedly.

"I-I mean you COULD, but maybe we should just start with a drink for now?" Lucy stammered out.

"Oh, um, do you have cinnamon tea? If not, I'll take a coke I guess."

"We have the tea," Lucy said smiling brightly, "Alright, I'll be right back with your order, unless you want Lisanna to serve you Elfman?"

"NO!" Natsu burst out, "um…um… actually I'll just have the coke, okay? Thank you!" He stuck his head back into the menu, turning blue and his ghost flying above him as he realized his grave mistake.

"Uh… Ok? I'll let Lisanna know we're splitting the table?" Lucy said, a crooked smile on her face and her eyebrow quirked. She walked off to the back counter and filled their drink orders.

"Looks like someone is in to you, Luce!" Kinana joked.

"You're supposed to be the nice one!" Lisanna said shocked, but she cracked an evil smile, "However, I tend to agree. He's kinda cute, but that pink hair is a bit strange if you ask me."

"Everyone is allowed to look how they want. Besides, I think it makes him look unique. I appreciate the look." Lucy said nose up, "and more than that, he's not interested in me. The guy clearly has a thing for food, and ours is the best, so no wonder he's excited!"

Lisanna snickered and whispered to Kinana, "but he hasn't even tried our food, I think he wants a taste if something else."

"SHUT UP!" Lucy said turning around, and she started to slip and threw the contents of her tray up in the air. Next thing she knew, she was on the floor and Loke was holding her tray, having caught all the drinks.

"Jeeze Luce, you need to be more careful. You almost broke the dining ware again." Loke pushed up his glasses and took the tray to the table, "Sorry about that guys. She'll be more careful; can I get you a basket of garlic bread? It's on the house."

"Oh no worries Loke…" ELfman started, but looking at Natsu, he saw the ravenous beast within and said, "Actually, you might want to bring it to the table. Looks like the boy over there is about to eat the menu in front of him." They all chuckled at Natsu's expense as Loke walked back to the kitchen.

"No fair, Loke!" Lucy stomped her foot, "You didn't even ask if I was okay!" and Loke and Lucy continued to bicker back into the kitchen.

"They're crazy. but you've gotta love them!" Lisanna said dropping off the garlic bread. After that, lunch went on without a hitch. The four got to know each other a little better and interacted with the three waitresses whenever the girls came around to give them refills. Before they knew it, the lunch break was over, and the officers had to return to the station.

Once they arrived at the station, They split up into pairs, Natsu and Elfman were so busy comparing how much they ate trying to determine who the "real man" was, so Gray and Juvia partnered up and took a patrol car out. Juvia showed him around the neighborhood, and described the daily schedule the officers upheld. She mapped out the different districts and rounds, and then educated him on which areas were safer than others. "Basically, most of Magnolia is super safe, but there are areas that we need to patrol more than others. Especially at certain points of the day, so we get different shifts. I assume you and Natsu will be on morning duty with Juvia and Lyon. He's Juvia's partner. Bisca, Alzack and Elfman are all night patrollers." She finished while pulling into the station.

"Oh, I get it." Gray said, pretty tired of nodding and answering all day. "Alright well, thanks for the tour today. See you tomorrow." He jumped out of the car, and tried to sneak up the stairs of the garage.

"Not so fast," Elfman said grabbing gray by the middle and picking him up, "As your trainers, we would be amiss if we didn't show you where to cool off after work, too!" Gray groaned, but unwilling to risk upsetting his new coworkers and ruin the work environment he grit his teeth and went along with them.

"Of course, you can't go like that. Meet back here in 30, k?" Elfman said while winking and throwing a thumbs-up.

"Okay…" The boys said in unison.


	4. Chapter 4: Going Out

**Chapter 4: Going Out**

* * *

"You chose to wear THAT!?" Natsu scoffed, looking at Gray standing there in a suit.

"At least I look way better than you! Who in the world wears shorts with a BEANIE!?" Gray said getting in Natsu's face.

"At least I'll keep my clothes ON, streaker!" Natsu spit out while poking Gray in the chest.

"Yeah, if you don't manage to catch them on FIRE, pyro!" Gray shouted throwing his hands up in the air.

"Hey, boys, do you always fight like this?" both boys turned to see the scary redhead from the morning glowering at them in a… cocktail dress?

"Juvia thinks it's cute. They've been at it all day." Juvia said, stepping around Erza. The sight of her was almost enough to make stoic Gray drool. There stood Juvia, wearing a short, tight dress with just the right amount of cleavage but with enough fabric to leave plenty to the imagination. Lyon walked up next to her, causing Gray to sober up.

"Ugh, let's get tonight over with. Has anyone seen Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow?"

"We're here, shit. Laxus said he doesn't want to waste his time on this bull." Bixlow said getting out of his truck, "Who's driving?" They all bickered amongst themselves.

"Ugh. Bixlow, you drive. I'll follow you. Everyone just pick a car and let's go!" Erza ordered, making everyone turn white.

"Yes, ma'am." Everyone chorused.

Bixlow, Freed and Evergreen all piled back into his truck and the rest of the group got into Erza's Prius. Natsu yelled "SHOTGUN!" Before hopping into the front seat. Juvia got into the back which made Lyon panic and follow her in putting himself in the center seat, and Gray grumbled while sliding in next to Lyon.

They all arrived at their destination, and got out of the truck. The boys looked around and realized they were in the shadier side of town, before looking at the sign on the building, "Element 4"? Isn't that kinda a cheesy name?" Gray said looking uninterested. The music blaring out of the building was the one of the same crappy ten songs played on the radio all day long.

"Eh, who cares about the name? The chicks are hot and the drinks are good. That's all that matters at a club." Bixlow said before heading into line.

"NATSU!" The group looked up to see and excited blonde waving her hand up in the air, she ran straight up to them, "Hey, I didn't know you'd be coming here tonight!"

"Neither did we," Gray grumbled spitefully.

"Uh…" Lucy said confused looking at Gray before looking back at Natsu and mirroring his smile, "Here, why don't you all come join me and my friend in line?"

Natsu looked at everyone, most of which just shrugged and followed Lucy, who gave the group behind her an apologetic smile and they moved forward in line, all getting to know each other. Once they got to the front of the line Lucy and Levy smiled at the bouncer. He looked menacing to everyone else, spikey long hair, piercings all over his face and muscles the size of a building. "What're you lookin' at, Pinky?"

"What, you wanna fight?" Natsu said, pulling a face and balling up his fists.

"Oh Gajeel, he's with me." Lucy said before winking at the monster and heading on in after Levi. The whole group moved into the large building after showing their IDs and the guys paying the fee. The music that they heard on the outside was playing so loud no one could even hear themselves think. Lucy followed Levy to a table. And the group all piled around it. Before Natsu and Gray could even sit down, they were approached by two giggling, rosy-cheeked girls.

"Um hi…" The first one said.

"Would you two like to dance?" The second one followed, obviously the more brave of the two.

"Uh… sure?" Natsu said, while being drug off by the second girl.

"Eh, why not?" Gray said shrugging his shoulders before heading off to the dancefloor, hands still in his pockets. Juvia stared after them, and Lyon noticed.

"Would you like to dance too?" Juvia just nodded and Lyon grabbed her hand and led her off to the dancefloor. Juvia felt the beat and started to move along with it, her movements fluid and ground into Lyon. The club was so crowded she was brushing up against the couple in front of her as well, but she didn't really care. The music was fun and moving felt good. After a couple of songs, Lyon asked her if she wanted something to drink, and she said no, and that she was going to the bathroom. He went back to the table and she made her way to the girl's room.

"Oh! You're Juvia, right?" The blonde from earlier asked.

"Yes, I am. Sorry, Juvia didn't catch your name…"

"Oh, it's Lucy," she replied beaming, "It's nice to meet you. I see you at the diner sometimes with Elfman, but Lisanna likes serving him, so I haven't really gotten to meet you."

"It's nice to make your acquaintance. Juvia is going to go dance some more, would you like to come with me?"

"But didn't you need to use the bathroom?" Lucy asked cocking her head to the side and looking confused.

"No, I was just coming in here to cool off…"

"I see," Lucy said looking like she just came across a big secret.

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that. Lyon is really into Juvia, and Juvia is not interested in a relationship. Juvia just got out of a bad relationship, so a new one would be a bad idea."

"Is Lyon not a nice guy?" Lucy asked, looking concerned.

"No, it's nothing like that. Juvia doesn't even know why she's talking about this. Basically, Juvia just likes being single. Want to go dance or not?" She said looking down and feeling utterly confused about why she was sharing so much with a total stranger.

"Hey, I'm sorry, let's just go dance okay?" Lucy asked, reaching her hand out towards Juvia.


	5. Chapter 5: Drink Up

**Chapter 5: Drink Up**

* * *

Levy, Lucy, Juvia and Erza were all tearing it up on the dancefloor. Meanwhile, Bixlow was sitting at a table surrounded by women stroking his chest and complimenting his physique. Lyon sat at the bar sulking and nursing a whiskey neat, and Evergreen and Freed were sitting at a table eating nachos and taking tequila shots. The girl Natsu was dancing with went to the bathroom a little while ago, so he decided to join the girls, choosing to avoid dancing too much with Juvia or Erza, lest he make the workplace awkward. Instead, he danced mainly with Lucy acting crazy and jumping around more than actually dancing.

Shouting over the crowd, Natsu yelled to Lucy, "Do you wanna take a break and get a drink?"

"Sure!" She yelled back heartily. She let the other girls know where they were headed and followed Natsu up to the bar. Lucy waved to one of the bartenders and they smiled and put a finger up to tell her to wait a second.

A minute or two later a long-haired brunette in a bikini top and khakis approached the pair, "HI CANA!" Lucy yelled, super hyper from all the dancing and excitement. "I'll take a vodka cranberry and Natsu will have a… oh, um, what do you like?"

"Fireball please." He requested.

"A shot?" Cana asked, looking a little disappointed.

"The bottle." Cana smirked and nodded her head, walking off to make their drinks.

"Natsu! That's so much!" Lucy said while giggling. "Okay! Let's play a game! We'll ask each other questions, and we either must answer or take a sip. If the other person answers, the one who asked the question has to drink!" She said beaming. She was so excited, Natsu could not bear to say no.

"Okay, but I'll go first then!" Natsu said excited, he sat there thinking for a bit, "Okay, why did you become a waitress?"

"Oh, that's easy! I want to be a novelist, but because I haven't even finished a book, I need to make money somehow. Loke is my long-time friend, so when he heard I needed a job, he offered me one right away, and even though I'm clumsy, and break things a lot, he keeps me around so I won't be homeless. Drink!" Lucy said with a huge smile, and watched him down a small sip. "Ok my turn, what made you want to want to be a cop?"

Natsu took a large gulp of liquor that time, "Uh, let's save that for another time, yeah? Back to me I guess, what's your book about?"

"Oh, um…actually I'd rather down my drink then talk about that…" Lucy took a big gulp of her vodka cranberry, before turning back to Natsu, "What's your favorite movie?"

"Uh… probably Speed I think. Or Die Hard?" Natsu answered truthfully.

"Cop movies. Of course. Okay, okay. I'll drink." Lucy was starting to slur her words a bit, and Natsu smiled as she took a big gulp down.

"Maybe we should only drink when we want, and when we don't want to answer a question?" He offered kindly.

"Of course, you waited til AFTER I drank to offer that, huh? Hurry up and ask your question, so I can get you to catch up." Lucy jovially replied.

"Hmm… what made you want to be a novelist?" Natsu asked.

Lucy sat there for a moment, bottom lip protruding as she thought hard, "I guess all the reading I used to do as a kid. I love books so much, and I figured I should try my hand at it. My English teacher said I had the skill, so why not?" Natsu smiled and nodded at her response, "In any case, it's not like anyone is ever going to read my novel, so I guess it's all for nothing," she sighed, frowning, "Any way, how old are you?"

"That's a lame question! 23, how old are you?" He retorted.

"22, but I'm going to be 23 this summer!" Lucy said smiling, "What's your type of girl?"

"Now that's a RANDOM question! Hmm… I've never really thought about it." Natsu said, half frowning, half perplexed.

"What kind of answer is that?! Drink!" Lucy exclaimed, face pink, with laughter bubbling from her throat.

"He's actually serious…" someone said approaching her from behind, "Natsu's never dated any girl. In fact, I'm pretty sure the closest he's gotten was a puppy love thing in primary school."

"Oh shut up, Gray!" Natsu yelled, getting embarrassed and shooting up to fight him. Lucy panicked not knowing that this was normal and put her hand to Natsu's chest trying to stop him, but she underestimated the force he was using and was pushed to the side. Gray shoved Natsu in the chest.

"Knock it off, Flame Brain, you just knocked over Laura."

"Actually, it's Lucy." She said brushing off her skirt, going unheard.

"I didn't even start it! You interrupted our conversation!" Lucy just watched in amusement as they bickered like an old married couple until Levi came up to her, and asked if she was ready to go home. She agreed that it was time, and pat both boys on the shoulder.

"WHAT!?" They shouted in unison. Lucy felt like her eyebrows flew off her face and like a strong wind blew her hair all the way back.

"I just wanted to say I was leaving. It was nice to see you both again. Stop by the diner soon, 'Kay?" She said, half smiling, half scared.

"Now look at what you did! You scared her off, Froyo!" Natsu said butting heads with Gray.

"What the hell even is that insult, and I didn't scare her off, your lame conversation did!" Gray retorted shoving Natsu's forehead back with his own.

"Our conversation was just fine until you came busting in!" Natsu insisted. Lucy looked back as she was walking out the entrance. These guys were a handful, but they sure were a lot of fun.


	6. Chapter 6: First Cases

**Chapter 6: First Cases**

* * *

After finishing their orientation, Natsu and Gray were partnered up and hit the streets together. For the past two weeks, the most they had to deal with was noise complaints and loitering teenagers. It seemed like the city was so calm they weren't really needed. One day, just before noon, Natsu started bugging Gray about lunch, "Where do you wanna go today, Icee?"

"I assumed we were just going to Fairy Tail as usual. It's cheap and close to the station." Gray responded. Natsu started beaming.

"Sounds good! It's been awhile since I've had garlic bread and spaghetti!"

"You had it yesterday. At Fairy Tail. Damn dude, do you even care about what you eat?" Gray asked, pulling into the spot in front of the restaurant. He shook his head as Natsu bounced up and down waiting for Gray to walk around the car.

"I DO care what I eat. That's why I want to eat this food. It's sooooo good. You know you like it too, Gray." Natsu prodded, attempting to get his friend to admit he enjoyed ANYTHING.

"Eh. It's edible and cheap. I guess." Natsu smirked in victory. That was as good as it got with the Ice Princess. If he didn't mention anything bad, he loved it. If he mentioned anything good, he liked it.

They walked into the diner to be greated by the normal "Welcome, seat yourselves!" from one of the girls. The guys walked over to their normal booth and sat opposite each other. Lucy brought over their drinks after a little while, "One super-iced water and one super-hot cinnamon tea. What's for lunch today boys? The usual?" She asked looking expectantly. Natsu nodded excitedly and Gray nodded once. "You got it!"

As she started to walk away, she heard Natsu snicker, "Really Gray? You're stripping in public AGAIN? Don't you have a little more decorum?"

"Shut up! It's been two weeks and the worst I've done is unbutton my over shirt! Unlike you, setting the floor of our patrol car on fire!" Lucy turned around immediately.

"Wait a minute. You set the patrol car on fire? HOW!?" Lucy asked, her voice escalating in volume with every sentence, "That's insane! What were you doing?"

Natsu looked down at the table and muttered, "I pushed the cigarette lighter in too far, and when I tried to pull it out I burned myself and dropped it on some paper on the floor..."

"The whole stack went up like brush in a wildfire. I'm surprised we got it out before the car exploded. Pyro over here seems to not like working, since he keeps almost losing our jobs!" Gray said while giving Natsu a nuggey. Lucy knew the violence was about to escalate, so she ran off to fetch their drinks and a basket of garlic bread.

Putting it down before they started really getting into it, she asked, "So, I don't know if you can talk about this at all, since it's been on going, but have you guys found out anything about the hold ups all over town?"

"Wait. Hold ups?" Natsu asked tearing his attention away from his friend.

"We haven't heard shi...squat." Gray said, catching his word before he cursed in public. A little annoyed, Gray ground out, "What do you mean hold ups? We haven't heard anything from the station about that."

"Oh! My bad, um, I don't really know how it works over there...maybe it's just because you're new?" Lucy offered hoping to defuse the angry looks on both boys faces.

"They think we're not good enough."

"This is because you burnt the floor. They don't think we're responsible enough."

"NO! Maybe it's because you're made of ice and they don't want to expose victims to your lack of apathy!"

"I think you mean empathy. I ooze apathy bud."

"THAT"S NOT SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF YOU JERK!"

Lucy backed off, feeling somewhat guilty for starting another uproarious fight between the pair. Afraid, and yet still amused, she retreated to the counter to watch the calamity unfold with Lisanna and Kinana, safe behind the counter. It didn't seem like she had only known the pair the last couple weeks. She felt like they had been there forever. Especially Natsu. He dropped in five times in the last two weeks to pick up dinner at the end of Lucy's shift. On those occasions, he walked her home and they talked about anything and everything, from the moonlight to the crazy movie or tv show they watched the night before. She found out they had a little bit in common. Both lived away from family, and had lost their mother at a young age. They both liked comedy and action movies and he could even dig on some romance...sometimes. They both hated horror films, but would watch them to not look like big babies. They had never really dated anyone, and they both loved to laugh, at pretty much the same things.

After they finished their meals, Gray and Natsu stormed out of the diner looking for blood. They left straight for the station to confront Erza and try to figure out whose fault it was, but the second she looked up from her paperwork both had lost their steam. "What can I do for you, boys?" she glowered at them, instantly sensing the attitude wafting off of them the second they walked through the door.

"Um...um... nothing ma'am." Natsu said eyes squeezing shut as he tried to turn on his heal and high tail it out of there, but Gray grabbed his shirt.

"Actually we're here to offer help with the hold ups all over town. We heard they were becoming quite the problem, and we wanted to let you know we are team players. Let us know if there is anything we can do." Gray stated with a nod before turning on his heal himself.

Before they could exit her office. Erza cleared her throat, "Actually, there might be. Bisca and Alzack are about to have a baby, so she will be out for a couple months, and him a couple weeks. If you wouldn't mind doing a couple night shifts as well, that would be incredibly helpful. It will encourage you to know that the hold ups generally occur when you are off duty, so your performances have nothing to do with you not receiving those calls. You're excused." She finished, not even bothering to look at them as she dismissed them.

"Wow. She's colder than you are."

"SHUT IT, FLAME BRAIN!"


	7. Chapter 7: Night Duty

**Chapter 7: Night Duty**

* * *

"This is so boring!" Natsu complained for the sixth time that night.

"And how is complaining going to help?" Gray sneered, annoyed that he had to listen to this bozo complain so much. "It's been literally forty-five minutes, would you try to relax."

"Yeah, sit-down, shut up and suffer through like a real man." Elfman said, getting a little ticked off himself.

"I thought there was going to be lots of action! At least during the day we get to patrol a little more!" Natsu whined. He fell silent for a bit, tapping his feet with his chin in his hand.

"Why don't you and Gray go patrol the 6th district? There's bound to be something. Maybe a drug deal or prostitutes or something."

"Ooh! CAN WE GRAY? CAN WE? CAN WE? CAN WE?" Natsu begged while bouncing around.

"Trying to pawn him off on me? You take him." Gray said, annoyed that Elfman would suggest it, and that Natsu was such a child. "It's not even eight o'clock Natsu, for goodness sake, we have another seven hours before we can go home. Take a chill pill."

"Nah-uh! We have six hours!" Natsu retorted petulantly.

"Not if you include lunch, idiot." Gray responded lazily. "Please just take him. I can hold down the fort. The cells are empty tonight anyway, since the last bunch got picked up by state."

"Ugh! Alright, but you're on Natsu detail next time." Elfman said, looking sour, "Come on Natsu, let's go be real men and save the city!"

"I'm all fired up now!" Natsu chirped racing for the garage.

Natsu and Elfman head straight for the sixth district, passing by a closed Fairy Tail on the way. Natsu smiled as they passed by, thinking about the awesome spaghetti and the absolutely delicious cherry pie. Before they got too far from the station the radio came alive, "Hey guys, a silent alarm just went off at Perusing Pages, 4115 Stem Street Suite 2. Over."

"10-4. On our way." Elfman responded switching on the lights and blaring siren, "Are you ready for this buddy?"

Natsu looked a little sick, but quickly regained his composure, "Yeah of course! I was born ready!" They sped off in the direction of the book store. "This is a nicer area, I didn't think they would hit somewhere like this. It's a book store for goodness sake. How much money could they have?"

"They'll hit all kinds of places. It doesn't just matter what they sell, it matters who's selling it." Elfman informed him, while weaving in and out of traffic. They got there in 2 minutes flat. Making sure he had his baton and gun on his hip, Elfman nodded at Natsu, "You take the back of the store, I'll go through the front."

"Got it." Natsu copied Elfman and checked for his effects. He nodded before rushing out the door to the back of the lot.

Following his lead, Elfman ran for the front of the store. He had one hand on his gun, the other posed to open the door. Looking in, he noticed two guys. One at the register holding up a gun in a girl's face, he was tall and looked pretty built, and another behind him, pointing his gun up in the air and looking around. Both had masks on, but they were wearing easily identifiable jewelry and had no gloves on. "Idiots." Elfman thought as he pulled open the door. "Place the gun on the floor and lay on your stomachs." Elfman instructed loudly. The two gunmen turned to face him.

"Oh shit!"

"Let's get out of here!" They made to run for the back, only to run into Natsu with his gun pulled.

"I don't think so, guys." Natsu glared at the men, hoping that one would try to fight him. He got his wish as the taller man rushed him.

"Get outta here!" He yelled to his partner as he flung himself at Natsu. Natsu brought his fist up and punched his assailant in the gut, before turning and kicking the runner in the face.

"Not today, boys. Not today." Natsu recited while grinning, as though he had practiced one-too-many times in the mirror.

"You better be glad they were running and threatening you. Otherwise that would have been excessive. In fact, it still might have been." Elfman said while grimacing, before turning to face the cashier, "Hey little lady, you doing ok?" They started to talk while Natsu cuffed the robbers and threw them into the backseat. Natsu walked back into the store to let Elfman know the guys were safely in the car when he finally looked at the girl.

"Hey, you're Levy right? Lucy's roommate?" Natsu asked excitedly.

"Ye-yeah. Is that relevant?" She asked not really looking at him. Natsu realized she was shaking and felt bad for being so aggressive in front of her.

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare ya..." Natsu said quietly, looking guilty.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you miss, but would you mind following us down to the station. We need to ask you a few questions." Elfman requested, looking grim.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Let me just lock up the store and call my manager. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"I can wait with you, if you like?" Natsu offered kindly. Levy finally looked at the hyper man and recognized him immediately as the guy from the club the other night and the one who walked Lucy home a couple times that week.

"OH! N-Natsu, right?" Levy asked, still shaken up. "Sure. Um, that'd be great." Natsu smiled and nodded as Levy picked up the phone to call her manager, letting the old man know what had happened. She then called Lucy to let her know she wouldn't be home til later, "Alright, now I just have to lock up and we can head out."


	8. Chapter 8: Book 'Em

**Chapter 8: Book 'Em**

* * *

"Hey Levy, are you sure you're okay?" Natsu asked as they made their way to her car.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. That was just super scary. The closest I've come to a gun was on the tv. It's not really an everyday occurrence for me." She whispered, trying to be funny and strong, but still showing her fear.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want," Natsu offered gently, "Do you know how to get to the station?" She shook her head no. He nodded and gave her directions, only talking when he had to tell her when to turn. It didn't take long to get to the station, and luckily she didn't have to see her attackers again.

When they entered through the front, the sound of yelling hit them square in the face. "Do ya know how much shit I had to go through to bring this mother fucker down here!?" Natsu didn't recognize the voice, so for the second time that night, he pulled out his gun. Reaching his arm out, he motioned for Levy to stay in the front and not to follow him. He turned to put a finger to his mouth, and she shook her head, grasping the back of his shirt. He just sighed and waved for her to follow. "Well, I just gotta say, it's not like I'm some normal civilian. I'm a security guard for goodness sake. And you people never respond fast enough. This guy was harassing our patrons, and I'm not gonna stand for that!"

Natsu approached the counter and prepared himself. He was about to stand and order the brute to hold his hands high, but before he could Levy popped out from behind him, "Gajeel?" She asked, voice steady for the first time that night.

The man at the counter turned quickly, "Ah, hey Shrimp. What you doin' here at the station? Didn't throw boiling coffee at someone again, didja? Giihii!" He smirked before turning to Natsu, who looked utterly confused.

"No! That was an accident! I said I was sorry!" She started pouting and turning a bit pink, "You shouldn't have been standing there waiting to scare me. Wait a minute. Why are YOU here, Gajeel?"

"Oh, there was this idiot that kept trying to grope all the girls in line. I went to put him in his place and he gave me some trouble, so I gave him some trouble."

"He's not in trouble, is he?" She asked, big brown eyes turning to look at Gray. Who looked annoyed and didn't seem to care about her attempts at being cute. All he could think about was how many girls had crazy hair colors. This was the third girl he had met in a week that had blue hair.

"Look, you can't go around making citizen's arrests. I realize you're a security guard with all the right certifications, but you aren't a police officer, and thus cannot make arrests. Please just sit down, and I'll call my captain to see what I should do with you, ok?" Gray ordered before walking off, muttering about crazy people and crazy hair colors.

Natsu walked off behind him, "I'm just going to go check on things back there, ok?" He smiled before rushing to the back.

Gajeel looked back at Levy, who was now smiling, but he could still tell something was wrong, "So, Runt. You didn't answer my question. Whatcha doin' here?" Levy blushed before looking down.

"My shop got held up tonight. I thought that stuff like that only happened in the bad parts of town, so I wasn't ready. The police got there in time, but not before they pulled a gun on me." She sniffed, willing the tears not to start.

"Well, what'd they want? It's not like you make too many sales over there." Gajeel said through gritted teeth.

"They said they wanted me to go with them. They didn't even ask for the money in the drawer."

Gajeel looked at her eyes wide, but when she moved her head up to look at him he crossed his arms and put on an indifferent face, "Well you shoulda been more prepared, Shrimp. Maybe you should just not work at night."

"Hey sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Ms. Levy would you mind heading back with me. Mr. Redfox, Gray said you were free to go, but to please call us next time something like this happens." Natsu called over the counter. Levy seized up immediately.

"Go ahead, Shrimp. I'll wait for you outside, okay?" Gajeel whispered down at her. Attempting to sound aloof, but letting his concern show accidentally.

Levy looked up, eyes full of tears, "Thank you, Gajeel," she whispered, touching his forearm as she walked by him. She didn't notice the way his arm tensed and his eyes closed.

"No problem." He whispered to no one, as she walked down the hall.

* * *

"So, what happened exactly?" Natsu asked Levy, a tape recorder in front of her and she sighed before starting her story.

"Basically, it was around 8 when I started to clean up, we close at 9 you see. I was stacking the coffee under the counter when I heard the door open. It had a bell attached to it, but they opened it so hard the bell flew off somewhere. I got up to confront the customers, and they pulled their guns out. They told me not to scream and not to move. They told me that I was to do exactly what they said. My boss has always told me that if the store was to be held up, I was just supposed to give them what was in the register, and not to worry about it too much. See, I place the big bills, well I guess I shouldn't talk about that. In any case, like I said, I thought they wanted the money, so I moved to get the cash, and they were all, 'We told you not to move,' so I explained that I was just getting the money for them, when they said they weren't there for the money, they were there to take me."

Natsu and Gray followed her story wide-eyed, "What happened after that?" Natsu asked, trying to get her to finish her story.

"Well, that's when you and the bigger guy came in and saved me." Levy finished lamely.

"Can you think of any reason anyone would want to kidnap you?" Gray asked, surprisingly kindly for his usually stoic state.

"No, I'm just a random girl. I have no money, no family, and there wouldn't be any ransom for me." Levy said, thinking hard to try to find any reason she would be kidnapped.

"Thank you, Ms. McGarden. That'll be all. Do you need an escort home tonight?" Elfman asked walking in and interrupting the interrogation.

"No, I'll be fine. Gajeel is waiting for me up front. He'll take me home. Thanks anyway though." Levy said before picking up her purse and heading for the front. She walked up to the front, and Natsu watched as she got on the back of Gajeel's motorcycle.

"Wait a minute. Gray. Gray. GRAY!"

"WHAT!?"

"How did he get another guy here on THAT?"

* * *

 **A.N.: Thank you so much for the review and the follow/subscribe! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!**


	9. Chapter 9: Walking Home

**Chapter 9: Walking Home**

* * *

A week after Natsu's first arrest, he and Gray were getting reckless. Each person they ran into that was even remotely breaking the law, they arrested and brought in. It became too tedious for the station to deal with. Beyond that, if they weren't fighting perps, they were fighting each other! It was decided that they would be separated and paired with other officers for awhile.

Natsu was placed with Lyon, and Gray was partnered with Juvia. Although Lyon protested the change, he couldn't really argue with the captains and the chief. It became clear that he was stuck with the newbie, and that his chances to stay close to Juvia were lost. While Lyon was sitting at his desk lost in thought, Natsu crept up behind him, "GOOD MORNING NEW PARTNER!" Lyon turned to look at him, unphased by Natsu's jump scare tactics.

"You're finally here then. It's a shame they placed me with a partner who has such low work ethic." Lyon sighed as he turned his nose up and began walking towards the garage.

"What the..." Natsu trailed off as he watched his new partner walk away from him, "I'm right on time, what did he mean by 'finally'?"

"And you thought I was icy." Gray chuckled as he walked towards Juvia. "Hey Juvia, you ready to head out?" He greeted, leaning on the edge of her desk.

"Juvia will be ready in a minute. Can Juvia please just finish this report from yesterday evening without someone bothering her?" She rushed out, seemingly very annoyed.

"Ooookay..." Gray replied, a little miffed that she was giving him a little bit of attitude, "I'll be down making sure everything is good with the cruiser. Just meet me down there when you're done."

"Fine," she hissed dismissively.

"God, our new partner suck!" Natsu exclaimed as he and Gray made their way to the garage.

"Eh, I'd rather be stuck with Moody Juvy than with your ass."

"That makes two of us. Even if Lyon is a snob, at least he cares about getting the job done. Iceberg." Lyon's protests to being called a snob and nagging to leave were ignored thoroughly by the two boys.

"WHAT!? I care about getting the job done! I just want to do it RIGHT, unlike you flame for brains!" Gray yelled before paling as he heard a throat being cleared.

"Is there a problem here, gentleman?" Natsu and Gray slowly turned their heads, eyes wide.

"No, Ma'am!" They chorused as they looked straight into their Captain's face. They scuttled over to their own patrol cars, and Natsu and Lyon scrammed out of the garage. Meanwhile, Gray just made himself look busy checking the car for any "issues" even though he knew there wouldn't be any.

A few minutes later, Gray heard someone walking down the staircase. He looked up to see a pink faced Juvia and smirked a little inside. "Juvia apologizes for this morning. Juvia is working a double shift today, so she hasn't gotten much sleep. You did not deserve Juvia's anger this morning. Please forgive Juvia!" She begged nearly dropping to her knees and crying.

"Woah, woah, woah! Juvia, it's cool. No worries. Just...get in the car. I'll drive around today. You get some sleep, and if I need your help I'll wake you up ok?." Gray stuttered out, hands up, figuratively attempting to stop her word vomit and the outpouring of tears from reaching him.

"Oh, thank you!" Juvia whimpered, big crocodile tears in her eyes and a pout on her lips.

Gray half smiled half grimaced at her while wondering to himself about how weird this girl was going to get. He jumped in the driver's seat while Juvia gracefully slid into the passenger's, "You really don't mind if Juvia sleeps? That's against the rules. Juvia thought you were a stickler."

"Not for everything. Besides, I'd rather you be rested up and able to help me. Just go ahead and nap." He said pulling out of the station and heading towards the second district. "We have an easy day today. It won't be that big of a deal," he continued , before looking over to find that his words had fallen on deaf ears Juvia was knocked out, breathing shallowly with her lips slightly parted and her hair released from it's usual tight bun. Gray lightly snorted and looked back up at the road. She really must have been exhausted.

* * *

"All I'm saying is that those two bozos have absolutely no feelings at all!" Natsu whined as he walked Lucy home that night. He had been stuck with a moody and boring partner all day long. "He doesn't even respond to my goads or even really talk to me at all except to tell me I don't understand anything or that he doesn't care about what I'm saying!"

"Well, Lyon sounds like a all-around good-time guy," Lucy joked as she swung her arms back and forth, teetering while attempting to walk on the small wall around the fountain in front of her apartment, "I bet you just miss Gray," she teased.

"NO WAY! I just don't like either of them! I mean Gray is my best friend and all, but he's just as much of a pain in the ass!" Natsu started to rant and attempted an impression that Lucy found particularly funny. She laughed so hard she started to lose her balance and they had to stand still, "You're going to fall off of that thing and then I'M going to be the one laughing, Luce."

She giggled a little bit more standing with one hand holding her mouth and the other balancing on Natsu's shoulder, "I won't fall in, if I start having problems I'll just grab your shoulder or jump off," she explained, sticking her tongue out.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, back to what I was saying!" Natsu said before spinning to face the direction they were walking in. He moved so fast that Lucy lost her balance, grabbing at air and making a weird squeaking scream, Lucy started to flail her arms trying to regain her balance. Natsu turned back just to be hit down the front of his clothes with the splash Lucy made hitting the water. He was stunned for a quick second before he busted up laughing.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL! This is all your fault!" She angrily pouted, crossing her arms and glaring right at him, although it held no malice. Natsu chuckled a little and reached his arms out to pull her up.

"I told you, you were going to fall in and I was going to laugh." Lucy pouted even harder and refused to take his hands, "Aw, come on, Luce. I was just jokin'. He walked closer to the side of the fountain and leaned down to pick her up. Before he could register it, Lucy had her arms wrapped around his waist and she was pulling him into the fountain beside her. He blubbered a bit and sat there rubbing his face to get the water off. When he realized what had happened he looked up at Lucy to see he laughing with her head thrown back as she was holding her tummy.

"I guess it would have been hard not to laugh at me," she said in between laughing fits. He grumbled to himself about crazy blondes and being wet, but he really wasn't angry; in fact, it had been the most refreshing moment of that day, so he couldn't help it. He threw on a big grin and started splashing Lucy with the water before getting up and running away from her. "Oh now it's on, mister!" She chuckled lowly as she got up to chase him. Lucy and Natsu played in the fountain for a long time before they saw flashing lights and heard a voice on a loud speaker.

"Please remove yourself from the fountain." They quickly clambered up, trying to reach the side all the while attempting to trip each other. Once they got to the edge, Natsu jumped over the barrier and without thinking, turned back and lifted Lucy carefully out of the fountain and placed her by his side before facing the police car again.

"Sorry Elfman! Won't happen again!" Natsu called, grinning so big you could almost see his molars.

"It better not!" the loud speaker sounded, and the lights shut off and Elfman pulled away and drove down the street.

Natsu turned to see Lucy shivering, "I can't believe you're cold. Come on, let's hurry up and get you home. Lucky we're here." He smiled kindly at her and walked her up to the front entryway, "Ugh! Now I have to walk all the way home sopping wet. Thanks, crazy."

"You pushed me in first!" She exclaimed. He just chuckled and shook his head, "but you shouldn't walk home like that. Come on up. You can at least towel off your hair, and I have an old pair of gym shorts from high school. Those things were basically one size fits all." He followed her in, checking out the inside of the building.

"Hey Lucy?"

"What?"

"Why are there naked babies with wings on the walls?"


	10. Chapter 10: Lucy's Apartment

**Chapter 10: Lucy's Apartment**

* * *

Natsu and Lucy stood in front of the elevator, Natsu observing the foyer and Lucy steaming a bit from embarrassment. Natsu had asked super loudly about the cherub paintings on the walls, and they were now receiving odd looks from her neighbors and the doorman. Not only was the pink haired man ridiculously loud, the pair were soaking wet on a dry day. Finally, the elevator dinged, signalling its arrival. Lucy stepped in first and pushed the button for the third floor and Natsu followed like a little puppy nodding his head to show his appreciation of the decor. "Fancy place, ya got here." Natsu observed, as the doors closed.

Once they were shut in the elevator alone, Lucy flailed her arms and her red face was pointed directly at Natsu's, "How could you not know what cherubs are!? And why on EARTH did you have to ask that so loudly? We're already soaking wet, I don't want to be kicked out of this place because I look like some irresponsible..."

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Luce!" Natsu quickly let out, grabbing her arms and pushing them down to her sides, "I was mostly just trying to get a rise out of you, but I didn't think it would upset you."

Lucy felt tingles up and down her whole body, starting from where his hands gently held her, just above the elbow, "I-I know. I don't know. I'm sorry, I guess I just felt a little embarrassed being wet." She felt the tingles increase as Natsu pulled her closer to his chest, enveloping her in his arms.

"Well, at least you invited me in then. Imagine how much worse it would have looked if you had come in alone!" Lucy's eyes popped open as wide as they could go.

"Oh my god, you're right. Ugh this is all your fault." She blamed. Natsu noticed she wasn't holding him back and frowned a bit before letting a fake shocked look come over his face and moving back to just holding her arms.

"My fault!?" He asked, pretending to be taken aback, eyes wide and mouth stern.

"Yes, your fault! If you hadn't walked away from me, when I wasn't expecting you to, I wouldn't have fallen in!" Lucy lightly pouted, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Ha! You're just clumsy!" Natsu teased. He grinned as she started on a tirade, but was interrupted by the elevator reaching its destination. Quickly letting go of her before the door opened, he sighed in relief as he looked out and saw the little blunette from the other night looking in on them. Moving out of the elevator Lucy rushed forward to hug her roommate.

"Oh! Lucy! I was worried! You didn't answer your phone. I left you a message. I'm heading out for the night, I'm going over to Erza's." Levy rushed out, not noticing Natsu.

"Oh, hey Levs! Sorry, Natsu pushed me into the fountain, and it must've killed my phone!" Lucy said, glowering at Natsu as she rushed out the explanation. Natsu started to defend himself, but Levy interrupted his argument.

"Oh, Natsu! I didn't see you there! Thanks again for the other night," she smiled, "I don't know what would've happened if it hadn't been for you and Elfman."

"Wait, you didn't tell me Natsu was there?" Lucy squinted, while tilting her head to the side, looking between the two.

"You're welcome," Natsu grinned while nodding, "Feel free to call me if you ever get worried, and we can do a sweep by the store, 'kay?"

"Of course! Any how, I'll see you two later!" Levy said, reaching out to push the button to call the elevator. The door opened immediately, and as the doors started to close Levy rushed out to hold the door, "Oh! LUCE! I finished the alfredo, but there's still the fire chicken and rice!"

"Oh ok. Thanks! See you tomorrow!" She waved watching the doors close. Lucy turned around and pulled on Natsu's arm, "alright, come on! Let's get inside." She walked down the hallway to the third door on the left. Natsu followed looking around, the hallways were a lot less decorated than the foyer, but still gave off a posh feel. These walls were a plain, tannish yellow and had gold faceted lamps on the walls. The carpet was deep purple and looked really rough. This place didn't really seem comfortable. Even the door knockers and numbers seemed super expensive, and Natsu scrunched his nose a bit.

"This is not what I pictured your apartment would look like."

"Well this is the hallway, so I would hope not. Are you coming in or not?" Lucy asked looking up at him from across the threshold of her door. Natsu shook his head and smirked slightly and nodded before barging in and running all over her apartment.

Lucy's jaw dropped watching him practically bouncing off the walls, but shaking her head muttered, "Sure make yourself at home. Not like you needed my permission anyway." She disappeared down the hallway to her room, and called out to the man-child running around her home.

Natsu looked at her apartment thinking this made a lot more sense. The walls in her were a light blue and the carpets were fluffy and tan. The kitchen had hardwood floors (that he had enjoyed sliding on) with matching wood cabinets and dark gray and black marble counters (that he had narrowly missed with his head when he fell) and black appliances( that were spotless until he had to hold onto the fridge to get up). He noticed the hallways had the same plush carpet as he followed Lucy's voice back trying to find her. "Luce, where are you?" He called out looking frustrated. All the doors were closed, Lucy pulled her door open just a fraction and looking out to him.

"Here's the shorts and I found a big shirt," she held out a pair of black shorts with a tiger emblem on the front and a multi-colored T-shirt. Natus grabbed them and lucy stammered out, "Oh-oh uh, the bathroom is the door at the end of the hall." Natsu nodded gratefully and opened the indicated door. He took in his surroundings. It was the exact same wood floor and cabinets as the kitchen, but the counters were white to match the shower/tub combo and the toilet. Natsu started to strip, before remembering it might be a good idea to get a towel. Not thinking about it, he walked out of the bathroom without his shirt on and knocked on Lucy's door. Opening the door and peaking her head out, Lucy made to ask what he wanted, but found herself speechless. There stood in front of her was the most perfect specimen of man she had ever seen. Tan skin, taut muscles and damp hair plastered to his forehead. She followed a droplet of water down to the edge of his pant, and she subconsciously licked her lips before remembering to speak, "uh-uh-what's up? Did they not work?"

"Nah, I was just wondering if I could borrow a towel?" Natsu grinned, seeming not to notice or care about (she didn't know which) her obvious ogling. Blushing, she looked down at the floor.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! Uhm... Close your eyes, okay?" she smiled worriedly up at him. Titlting his head to the side and crinkling his eyes and eyebrows, he nodded and covered his eyes. Lucy waved her hand in front of his face before being satisfied that he wasn't looking out. She rushed out in her towel, holding it tight around her and headed into the linen closet, pulling out a towel and rushing back to him, feeling exposed. Turning around, she could've sworn she saw his fingers move back into place over his eyes, but that wasn't like Natsu. He didn't look at her like anything other than a friend. And neither did she. He was just insanely attractive.

"Hey, uh Luce, you there?" he asked behind his hands.

"Oh yeah, sorry, just had to find a towel," she muttered a little embarrassed she had stood there for so long. He reached out to grab the towel eyes closed, and she placed it in his outstretch hands. "'Kay, so I'll just finish getting changed. Meet in the living room?" She asked looking at the floor trying to make it to her room.

Natsu chuckled and she looked up indignant,"What?!"

"Just thinking..haha..about..ha.. you falling into..hahahaha..the fountain again." He said laughing hard again. Lucy stomped her foot and closed her eyes, embarrassed once again, and started off to her room again before turning and smacking into his chest and starting to topple over backwards, again, while flailing her arms and shrieking, again. But before she could fall this time, she was pulled to Natsu's strong chest, "told you you're clumsy," he whispered to her, looking down into her big, brown eyes. Natsu mentally shook his head and let her stand, "You okay?" she nodded and he reflected the motion, before turning around and heading to the bathroom wondering what just happened to his brain.

Lucy silently shrieked while running into her room and sliding down the door.

"What the hell was that?" They both asked themselves, before shaking off the feeling and finishing getting changed.

Lucy walked out to her living room and took a few calming breaths when she heard the bathroom door open.

"Hey, Luce?"

"Yeah?" She asked turning to face him.

"Why do you have a giant unicorn T-shirt that says 'I Shit Glitter'?"


	11. Chapter 11: Dinner and Dash

Lucy blinked quickly, trying to figure out how to explain why she bought two sizes too big without sounding crazy, "uh, cause it's super comfortable to sleep in! And who doesn't like unicorns?" She asked embarrassed. Slamming her door, she pushed her back up against it.

What was that? He was super attractive, there was no doubt, but he was such an idiot sometimes. Lucy thought back to when Gray mentioned Natsu didn't have a type, because he hadn't been interested in anyone since he was a kid. And, he was a goofball. He wasn't looking for that, and definitely wouldn't see anything in her.

Shaking her head, Lucy refocused on getting changed. Dropping her towel, she hummed to herself and grabbed another too large shirt and slipped on a clean pair of cute lacy panties. Just because she didn't think he'd be interested didn't mean she shouldn't be prepared just in case. Lastly, she threw on some black leggings and wandered out into the living room to find Natsu sprawled out on the plush carpet. "Wow, you really take making yourself at home to a new level, don't you?" she stated smiling down at him.

Natsu at least had the good sense to blush a bit, "I don't have carpet in my house," he started to explain, "I have a cat, and Happy likes to tear it up, so I just have tile and wood flooring."

Lucy offered her hand out to him, "so you didn't pick up dinner at the diner tonight. Do you want to maybe order in?"

He grabbed her interlocking their thumbs and stood up quickly, before starting to wobble. Lucy readjusted her grip on his hand and held onto his other arm to steady him, "Are you sure? It was awful nice of you just to lend me these clothes, and I don't want to overstay my welcome." He halfway whispered looking into her eyes.

Lucy looked up, caught in his stare, "I don't," she cleared her throat, "I don't mind at all. It'd be nice to have some company since Levy is out." She smiled convincingly at him, but then her face fell a bit, "don't feel like you have to though!"

"I don't! I'd love to stay!" He responded enthusiastically, rubbing her arm up and down reassuringly, and Lucy was left wondering when their arms switched places. He gently let go of her hand, which to her horror she found she was still clinging to.

"Cool!" she rushed out, followed by a demurer, "cool…" Wandering out of the room to grab her phone. She rummaged through her wet clothing to see if there was any way her phone wasn't destroyed. Frowning she pushed the home button, and when there was no vibration she knew her precious iPhone was a goner. Sighing, she made her way back out to Natsu.

Noticing the frown on her face, he was up off the couch and holding her elbows again. Why was he drawn to her like this? Concerned, he prooded, "what's with the sad face, Luce?"

She smiled at his concern, "I was right about my phone," she lifted her phone to show him, "it's dead for good. I'm going to have to go into Apple this week." She enjoyed the warmth of his hands and scooted unnoticeably closer. "We can check the fridge though. Levy said she left some stuff. You like hot food, right?" She broke away and headed towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge door and stared in for a bit, "Okay, so we have fire chicken and rice. I know that you like spicy, so you'll probably like that. We also have Diet Coke and some Sapporos."

"Sure, Luce, whatever you have is fine. I don't want to put you out though." He said shrugging.

She smiled back at him rolling her eyes, before getting out plates and portioning it out and shoving one plate in the microwave.

"Not a problem, just come with me to Apple next week," she smiled and turned half way to face him. He smirked and nodded quickly, "wanna watch something while we eat?" Lucy asked while turning back to the fridge and pulling out two beers. Natsu nodded giddily and ran back to the living room. Lucy shook her head and followed him out with the beers and a bottle opener. She set the beers down and walked around the table to grab the remote off the TV stand, "What do you want to watch?"

Natsu almost couldn't look away. Did those leggings have to be so tight? Whose ass actually looked like that? She stood back up and he looked away quickly blushing bright red, before she turned around he busied himself opening the beers and throwing one back, gulping down half the bottle before she even noticed what he was doing. "Are you trying to get drunk?" She asked, eyes wide, "Slow down there!"

"It was… just a bad day." He finished lamely after a small pause. Lucy scrunched half her lip up in disbelief, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what changed between the excited Natsu of moments ago and this surly one.

"Okay… well, any ideas on what to watch?" she moved on walking back toward the couch. He looked up and watched her make her way back. She bent forward to grab the bottle caps off the floor where they had fallen, giving Natsu the best view he'd seen all night…straight down her shirt. He swallowed deeply and pulled the beer back up to his lips as she started to stand, and the microwave started beeping loudly, "hold that thought." Lucy mumbled while rushing off to the kitchen.

Natsu swallowed a bit before remembering himself. This was Lucy. She was awesome. He didn't want to lose her as a friend before they even were that close just because she was smokin'. He followed her into the kitchen, "Actually, Luce, I just remembered I have to feed Happy, so maybe we could just chill and talk while we eat, and I'll head home right after."

Lucy smiled, trying to make sure the disappointment wasn't evident on her face, "no worries! Maybe next time! We don't want little blue going hungry!"

"My cat IS blue! I swear!" Natsu replied defensively before going on and on about how special his cat was.


	12. Chapter 12: Waking Thoughts

Walking back into the apartment, Levy wasn't surprised to find Lucy on the couch. She glanced around the room. There were two empty bottles of Sapporo on the table, so Natsu must've stayed for dinner. Smiling, she walked up to her blonde bombshell of a best friend and cooed at her while stroking her head. Lucy mumbled something in her sleep and wiggled her way into Levy's lap, growling slightly until Levy resumed petting her head. Shaking with subdued laughter, Levy poked Lucy's face, "Hey LuLu, what time do you work today?"

Blinking and frowning, Lucy asked what time it was and what day it was and where she was in rapid succession. "It's 8:30 AM, on a Saturday, Lu. You're on the couch." Lucy instantly smiled and curled into Levy farther, mumbling something about how she had the next two days off and that it had been mean of Levy to kick her out of bed onto the couch. Levy shook her head, and struggled her way out of Lucy's vice grip.

"You'll regret that!" Lucy garbled out, while shaking her finger sleepily at Levy, before turning over and cuddling a pillow, "You're not Plue!" She exclaimed before flinging the pillow across the room.

Levy walked down the hall into her room. After placing her phone on her side table, she sighed and fell into her own bed cuddling into her mess of orange and yellow sheets. She let her eyes start to droop and snuggled further under her comforter.

 **BBUUZZZZZ**

Her phone lit up and started vibrating on her desk. She sighed, irritated at whoever the culprit was. Glancing at the screen, Levy saw Erza's name flash on the screen, above a text, "Did you get home alright?" Her irritation lifted a little and she replied in the affirmative before laying back down to enjoy a few hours of rest before she had to work her shift.

 **BBUUZZZZZ**

"Oh my Mavis! I'm home and I'm fine, I swear!" She whined, answering her phone without looking at the caller.

"Oi, this how you always answer your phone, Shrimp?" Blushing madly she looked at the Caller ID, even though she already knew who it was. No one called her Shrimp but…

"Gajeel! Oh, I'm sorry! I just answered a text from Erza and I thought it was her again!" She tried to explain blushing madly.

"Ehhh calm down, no one's hurt. 'Cept maybe 'ur pride there, short stack, gihi!" Levy could picture his stupid toothy grin on the other side of the phone and stomped her foot down into her blankets.

"Well, what's up, or did you call just to make fun of my height again?" she grated out, flustered and bright red.

"Just callin' to let you know that if 'ur gonna be coming to the club today ya' might wanna be careful. Not that I care er anythin', but tell bunny girl too, eh?" He said gruffly, acting aloof, but still passing on the suggestion. He knew Levy and Lucy, or "bunny girl" as he called her, came in either Friday or Saturday night every week, and with what he suspected to be going on in that business… "And once you two're inside, stick close to Pinky and the Drag, yea?"

Levy smiled sweetly, imagining Gajeel standing there with a sour look on his face, lips pursed and nose wrinkled in faux-disgust. "Got it. Well, I'm going to take a nap now. I'll see you later tonight." Gajeel grunted non-committaly before nodding his head and hanging up. Levy shook her head. She would never understand him.

Snuggling back into her blankets, Levy sighed her relief and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Waking up on the couch was never much fun for anyone. For most people, it was only because the couch was an incredibly uncomfortable place to sleep. For Lucy, it was a weird reminder that her late mother could not have carried off to her bed, and that she had long outgrown the days of her father affectionately bundling her in his arms to carry her to her room, or really had outgrown any affection from him at all. Shaking her head, Lucy screeched out her muscles' approval at being stretched out of their tightened state.

She remembered falling asleep to Pride and Prejudice after Natsu left. Vaguely, she also recalled cuddling Levy and forcing Levy to pet her. Groaning, she got up and gathered the bottles off the glass table, sliding one across the top of the glass table causing a screech that only glass on glass can make. She placed the bottles in the sink, upside down to drain them, and made her way to her bedroom.

Lucy sat on her pink comforter. She had always loved the soft, plushy down-comforter her mother gave her when her parents first bought her a "big-girl bed". It was one of the few things Lucy had brought with her to Magnolia. Laying back on it, Lucy pulled out her laptop and went straight to the Apple website to make an appointment for her poor, lifeless phone that was sitting in a bag of rice, at Natsu's insistence that the rice would help. She selected an appointment for next Saturday, knowing it was Natsu's day off. After nodding to herself in approval, she shifted from her side to sitting on her butt, back to her headboard. Lucy searched for her most recent story and scrolled down to where she had left off.

"…the two sat on the bench not knowing what to say next…" she read quietly to herself, "UGH!" She exclaimed, exasperated, "They aren't the only ones who don't know what to say next!" she crumpled back into a defeated slouching position. Lucy started picking at non-existent lint on her leggings and her mind wandered to the night before. She looked up at her stark white door, and blushed remembering Natsu holding her close the night before. She rubbed her face with both her hands, trying to physically remove the memory from behind her eyelids. The more she tried to forget about it, though, the more she thought about his warm hands and the little water droplets that got to touch him where she couldn't… NO! She had to stop this.

Lucy looked at the time on her laptop. Smirking and hardening her resolve, she made a fist and a plan, before marching straight into Levy's room without even knocking, "Wake up, Levy-chan! We're going shopping!"

Levy woke up with a start, before glaring at the blonde and muttering something about "inconsiderate" and "next time I wake her up…". But Lucy would not be deterred. "Come on, Levs, don't you wanna look gooooood for Gajeel tonight?" Lucy purred.

Looking up from her cocoon, Levy blushed and whispered something about supposing shopping wouldn't be a bad idea.


	13. Chapter 13: Blue Hair, Don't Care

Finding themselves at the mall, "Finally!" according to Lucy, even though it was her make-up routine that took forever, the two girls set off in search of Forever 21 first. Levy glanced at her watch, "Okay, Lu, it's 11:30 right now, and I have to start at 3 and work 'til 8. So, let's hurry so we can eat before I go!"

"Got it!" Lucy beamed before grabbing the smaller girls arm and tearing off to where their excursion could begin. Speed-walking into the store, the two girls made their way to the escalator. "I love the clearance section here!" Lucy squealed quietly, while the stair belt pulled them up.

Grinning, the two girls surveyed the second floor, even though they knew it like the back of their hands. It was all separated first by type of clothing and then by color. Lucy quickly seeped into serious-mode. "Alright Levy, are we going for dresses this time?" Looking at her companion, Levy shrugged.

"I was thinking maybe pants this time. I don't really own enough, ya know?" Levy finished, shrugging again.

"I like that idea! We'll go there first then!" Lucy said while smiling and holding out her arm for Levy to take. Levy intertwined their arms and then the two of them walked over to the pants section. Grabbing a few items, the two girls went to the fitting rooms. All the while chatting about what they wanted to eat and what they planned on doing later that night.

After trying on shirt after shirt, Levy settled on a pair of black pleather leggings and loose-fitting off-the-shoulder golden yellow shirt that ended just above her rear. The shirt was flowy and was lined with white flowers with glittery black centers, and the back had a triangle cut out beneath the elastic, that dipped down past her middle back. The shirt matched well with her black and gold watch, and she had a few headbands that could go with this outfit, and best of all she could wear her denim flats.

The two girls made their way to the purchasing counter, "You're so lucky, Levy! You look so cute in _EVERYTHING_ you try on!" Lucy whined pouting.

"Are you kidding me?" Levy asked, incredulous, "It takes so many tries to find something I look good in! I don't have the body to fill out things the right way! I'm so short, and my butt is big, but my legs are thin, so that makes it almost impossible to find regular pants to wear! AND I have the chest of a junior high school girl," Levy sighed looking down at her feet, while Lucy shook her head, sadly.

"Levs, I don't know why you see yourself that way. I think you're beautiful. I would kill to have your butt and waist. And I seriously envy your height. Being above average in height makes it so hard to find a guy to date, 'cause I might be taller than them…" Levy chuckled, letting her self-consciousness slip to the wayside.

"You're crazy, Lu. You're perfect." Levy shook her head and handed the cashier her items. Engaging in small talk and then moving to the side for Lucy to make her purchases.

"Did we need to get shoes too, or would you rather just go eat?" Lucy asked, looking around the mall at all the available shops.

Levy checked her watch again, "It's 1:14 now, so we could do some more shopping if you need something, but I'm good with what I have." Lucy nodded slowly, before quirking her lips together while trying to remember if she had a good pair of heels that went with her new outfit.

"I need to pick up some shoes, but if you want to go pick up food and wait for me there I don't mind." Lucy answered, pulling out her wallet and handing Levy a $20 bill, "where do you plan on eating?"

"I was thinking Subway…"

"Oh okay, can you get me the usge?"

"You got it!" Levy said winking, before turning around and heading off to the food court.

* * *

"Hi, welcome to Subway, what can I get started for you today?" asked a young girl behind the counter.

"Hi, can I get a Turkey Bacon Avocado six inch on wheat, no cheese, and a Veggie Delite, Swiss cheese on wheat as well." Levy paused waiting for the girl to cut the bread and place the meat, "with lettuce and tomato, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper on both, and pepperoncinnis on the Veggie. Oh, and make one a combo with two Raspberry Cheesecake cookies?" The girl behind the counter nodded and quickly made the sandwiches, while Levy once again engaged in small-talk.

As the girl rung her up, she looked up at Levy in a curious way, "Your hair is blue like mine," she stated.

Not really knowing how to respond, Levy smiled, "Yeah that's kinda cool. I just met another girl with blue hair the other day." Looking closer at the girl, Levy realized she had to be very young, and she had the cutest little face. She barely filled out the subway t-shirt. Taking her change, Levy also noticed a little white cat tattooed on the girl's wrist.

"My name is Wendy, by the way. And I'm sorry if this is a rude or odd question, but do you know your family?" Levy scrunched up her face, in shock at the strange question.

"Yes, I do. Do…do you not know yours?" Levy asked, concerned and flustered.

"N-n-no, I was told that my mother let when I was really young and that a young man with blue hair dropped me off at the Cait-Shelter. Do you have a brother, miss..?"

"Levy, my name is Levy, and I'm sorry, sweetheart, but no. I don't know any guys with blue hair. I'm sorry. How old are you now?" Levy asked, trying to get to know the girl a little better.

"I'm 17."

"Are you still at the Cait-Shelter?"

"For now," Wendy grinned, "I love them all dearly, but I have to leave next year. We have to make room for others."

The girl was so young, and clearly had gone through heartbreak at a young age, Levy couldn't help but pity her a little bit. Tearing off a bit of her receipt, Levy wrote down her phone number on the little piece and signed it "-XOXO, Levy (blue-haired sister)". "Here you are. Call me if you ever need anything, okay?" Wendy's eyes widened and she accepted the paper with both hands, nodding and minorly bowing.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She said, before exclaiming and pulling out a little more paper from the receipt printer. She wrote out her phone number, "here's mine, just in case you run into a guy with blue hair! Thank you again!" Levy nodded before slipping the number into her purse along with Lucy's change. She smiled at Wendy one more time, before leaving with the food to find a table and Lucy.


	14. Chapter 14: Alone

Juvia was starting to get frustrated. Her days always went the same way. She would wake up to a blaring alarm clock, alone. She would shower, get dressed and think about her day, alone. She would make coffee and toast, only to sit down and eat all alone. Mist would always be falling as she left in the early morning, adding to the haze and gloominess of her lonely routine. The only thing she had to look forward to in the morning were Gray's good morning grunt and his absent-minded humming along to the music in the patrol car.

Her day didn't even get remotely good until after lunch, when Gray was more awake and they actually talked about the neighborhood or debated about one item or another. And all this, even the grunt and humming could completely disappear if Lyon decided to be a prick to Gray in the morning. Lyon was never rude to her, but he clearly despised Gray, and it didn't help the situation that Makarov had broken up their partnership this week due to Natsu and Gray acting like crazies.

Sighing and wondering what today would be like, she looked up to see a frappucino being waved in her face. Shocked, she looked up to see Natsu standing there holding it out for her, "Hey Julia, they gave me this extra drink on accident today after making me the wrong kind. It's a girly drink, so I figured, ya know, that you might like it, since, ya know, you're a girl and all…" He stammered out, looking obstinate, and totally unaware of how annoying his speech was.

"Sure. JuVIA," she emphasized the second syllable of her name, "appreciates your generosity." She took the drink from his hands and put it on her desk before going back to daydreaming about getting through the day.

"Ahemmm." Natsu cleared his throat, and was looking at her expectantly, fists on his hips and foot tapping impatiently. 

"Oh!" Juvia squeaked before sipping the drink, "it's…well… it's delicious! Juvia has never had one before!" She said excitedly while smiling. Noticing that she was sitting up a little straighter and looking a bit happier, Natsu relaxed his stance and smiled.

"Glad you like it, Blue. Now, uh, do you have any tips on how to take the stick Lyon has up his ass out?" He asked crudely, almost making Juvia spit out her next sip and turning her face completely red. "'Cause I mean, that guy, he is a B-O-A-R, bore!"

"It's spelled B-O-R-E, flames for brains," Gray explained, "Morning Juvia, lemme grab my coffee and we'll be on our way." He didn't even get a chance to glance her way before Natsu was up in his dace threatening a fight.

"I know how to spell!" Natsu hollered, stomping down the hall beside Gray. Juvia watched the two walk toward the kitchen, shaking her head and absent-mindedly sipping on her coffee drink. Realizing she had nothing better to do, she followed the pair down to the kitchen.

"Oi! Watch yourself!" Gray growled out, "Just cause abnormally high temperatures don't bother you, doesn't mean hot coffee won't burn someone else! This coffee is literally bubbling hot!"

"Oh, you're just a big baby!" Natsu said throwing his arms up in exasperation, accidentally knocking Gray's coffee all over Gray's shirt. Hissing in pain, Gray put the now empty coffee cup in the sink while glowering at Natsu. Natsu had the decency to look a little distraught and luckily for him, Lyon walked into the kitchen at just that moment.

"Natsu, Gray, I can see that you both are acting like buffoons," he sneered before turning to Juvia and throwing her a curious smile, "Good morning, Juvs. You're looking lovely as ever. When did you start drinking Starbucks? I thought you said they were 'over-hyped'."

Natsu frowned a little bit, and Juvia tried to save the situation quickly, "Oh! Juvia just didn't know what she was missing. Natsu brought her one this morning and Juvia's found she actually really enjoys it!" She explained, smiling at Natsu at the end of her spiel, "Thank you, again, Natsu."

"Ugh," Lyon muttered under his breath, upset that he again was upstaged, "Come on, pink-Gray, let's start our rounds." A mix of "HEY!" and "Don't compare me to HIM!" were heard down the hall, "Whatever." Lyon responded, rolling his eyes, "Let's get going. And Gray, if you're going to get that stain out, you should've taken care of it before yelling at this bozo. You're both idiots." He finished, leaving Gray and Natsu flapping their mouths open and shut trying to find reasonable retorts and Juvia giggling behind her drink.

"Just wait a minute! Where do you get off callin' me an idiot!" Natsu raged while storming out after Lyon. Juvia started openly laughing then, and turned towards Gray.

"Lyon is right, Gray-sama. You should rinse out your shirt at the very least, coffee stains really easily. Here, Juvia will help you." Neither noticing her honorific, Gray shrugged and stripped out of his shirt and handed it to Juvia. She put down her coffee and began to rinse out the shirt at the sink ringing out excess water until the stain was almost gone, then she put the stopper in, filling the basin with cold water and placing the shirt in the water to try and soak out the rest.

After that, she turned to face Gray and noticed that his chest was really red and there were a couple blisters where the coffee first made contact. Juvia pointed to a chair before retrieving the first aid-kit. They sat in silence as she worked. First wiping down his chest with a little bit of soap and water, Juvia softly treated his burn with cream and covered the blisters with band-aids. "There, your boo-boos should be better now," she joked looking up at Gray, her right hand still rubbing cream to the lower half of the burn and bracing herself against the table with her left hand.

Watching her care for him, Gray realized just how sweet and beautiful this woman was. Clearly too good for anyone, let alone him. He forced his eyes away from her smile and tossed out a "thanks" haphazardly, not seeming sincere. He didn't miss the way her smile dropped slightly and eyes clouded back over. Whispering out her acceptance of his thanks, she moved to clean up the mess in the kitchen. "Gray-sama should go get into his uniform. Juvia will clean in here." She turned her back on him and faced the sink again.

And once again, there she was, doing yet another thing _alone_.


End file.
